| Duchy of Turov and Pinsk (part of Kievan Rus) Турава-Пінскае княства |
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| Capital | Turov | |||
| Language(s) | Old Belarusian | |||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodox Church | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| Prince of Turov | ||||
| - 950-980 | Tur | |||
| Legislature | Veche | |||
| History | ||||
| - Established | 10th century | |||
| - Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania | 14th century | |||
The Duchy of Turov and Pinsk (Belarusian: Княства Турава-Пінскае, Russian: Княжество Турово-Пинское) was a medieval principality and state on the territory of modern southern Belarus and northern Ukraine. The principality's capital was Turov or Pinsk, other important cities were Mazyr and Slutsk, Lutsk, Brest, and Volodymyr-Volynskyi. Until 12th century the principality was very closely associated with the principalities of Kiev and Volyn.
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The duchy originated from the dregovich tribe, circumstances of its creation are not clearly known. According to the legend, the town of Turau was founded around 950 (1-st mentioned in 980) by prince Tur, a brother of Rogvolod.
During the times of Vladimir the Great the city of Turov with its near adjacent area became part of the realm of Kievan Rus. Sometime at the end of the 10th century Svyatopolk was appointed by Vladimir a prince of Turov. Svyatoslav was taken to jail later by his father for unknown reason, however, after the death of Vladimir he was freed and the Kiev city veche elected him the Grand Prince of Rus. In 1016 Yaroslav the Wise who ruled in Novgorod threw a challenge against the newly elected Grand Prince. Yaroslav was successful in the battle near Lyubech which became the decisive. Svyatopolk, however, retreated to Poland and in couple of years came back under the military support of Boleslav the Brave. Yaroslav was forced to retreat, but not for long. Soon during one of the engagements Svyatopolk was wounded and died sometime in 1019. Yaroslav became the Grand Prince of Rus claiming all the other regions of it as well.
In 1042 after marrying Gertrude of Poland, Izyaslav Yaroslavich became regional administrator of Principality of Turov and Pinsk. During the 11th century three of the Turov's princes held the title of Grand Prince of Rus. The region was for some time also left for his descendants. Upon the death of Izyaslav the principality was given to his oldest son Yaropolk Izyaslavich who also was awarded the administration of Volyn by the new Grand Prince Vsevolod. Yaropolk assisted Vsevolod and his Vladimir Monomakh in the fight for the principality of Chernigov against Oleg of Chernigov. With times Yaropolk has developed an unease relationship with the neighboring Rostislavichi who ruled the land of Halych and wanted to expand into Volyn as well. The Grand Prince, however, installed Davyd Igorevich in Volyn setting Yaropolk in a bitter opposition to him. During his conflict with Kiev Yaropolk was forced to flee to Poland leaving his family in Lutsk. He, however, was allowed to return, but soon was murdered under unknown circumstances.
The Turov principality was passed to his younger brother Sviatopolk II who administered the land of Novgorod. When Svyatopolk became the Grand Prince of Rus, he passed the principality of Turov to his nephew and son of Yaropolk Vyacheslav. Later Svyatopolk has given to his sons Yaroslav and Mstislav Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Brest. As the Grand Prince Svyatopolk also tried to conquer the rebellious Rostislvichi who established themselves well in the land of Halych. However, his attempts were rather unsuccessful. In 1100 the principality of Turov was passed to Yaroslav Svyatopolkovich who ruled both lands of Turov and Volyn. During another conflict between the prince of Turov and the Grand Prince of Rus Yaroslav was eliminated out of his realm in 1118. The land of Turov then was passed to another son of Svyatopolk Bryachislav, while Volyn was given to one of the sons of Vladimir Monomakh Roman.
After the death of Bryachislav Vladimir Monomakh gave the Turov principality to his Vyacheslav who kept it until the mid of 12th century. Around 1150s Turov belonged to the descendants of Yuri Dolgoruki Andrei and Boris. Finally in 1162 the principality was passed by Yuri Dolgoruki back to one of the Izyaslavichi Yury Yaroslavich, grandson of Svyatopolk II of Kiev, who gained full independence from Kievan Rus'. However, at the same time the duchy became more and more divided between several sons of the duke Yury. A semi-independent Duchy of Pinsk was created. Along with the Duchy of Smolensk, the army of Turau participated in the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223.
In early 13th century the Duchy of Turov became dependent of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. To liberate itself from it, the dukes of Turov cooperated more and more with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In early 14th century the Duchy non-violently joined the Grand Duchy. By that time Hleb Narymunt, the son of Gediminas, was already ruler of Pinsk, while Turov and Haradok were still ruled by Rurikids. Later the territory of the Duchy became part of Brest Litovsk, Nowogródek, and Minsk Voivodeships.
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